It's time to take the fight back to HBG

[Tom Shines]

I read that most NRL Clubs are making a profit now but remember the NRL grant is $30m. Are any of them making more than $30m?

Also, can they take money out of WT? HBGs charter says they can't.

The NRL grant is currently around $17m at the moment..each club has the salary cap funded and about another $5m on top… this will probably grow to $30m
Per club over the course of the next broadcast deal ..

Unlike many other sporting teams around the world , NRL clubs are a low risk investment in a rapidly expanding sport ( financially speaking )

 

[tig_prmz]

The NRL grant is currently around $17m at the moment..each club has the salary cap funded and about another $5m on top… this will probably grow to $30m
Per club over the course of the next broadcast deal ..

Unlike many other sporting teams around the world , NRL clubs are a low risk investment in a rapidly expanding sport ( financially speaking )

Can owners take money out of profits though?

My understanding is that each Club as a standalone has to reinvest ita profits back into the Club.

Maybe once they sell itz they can keep the profit

 

[Tom Shines]

Can owners take money out of profits though?

My understanding is that each Club as a standalone has to reinvest ita profits back into the Club.

Maybe once they sell itz they can keep the profit

I don’t think owners are looking at making miney from the NRL grant though ..: the investment payoff will be realised through the appreciation of the asset in a sporting league that is rapidly increasing their revenues… in the meantime some rich dude gets to scratch an itch owning a footy team that is mostly paying for itself after the initial purchase

 

[balmain boy]

Is changing owners going to make Benji make better recruitment and retention decisions and better team selections ?

Maybe, if we hired the best recruiter on the league and competent assistants then we'd be in a better position. When you pay peanuts you get monkeys..

 

[balmain boy]

I don’t think you realise how dumb you are coming across … it’s like you are trying to suggest that the people who will make the decision to sell the Wests Tigers …(HBG board ) will personally end up with the money from the sale… I will tell you once more that is not the case … the money from the sale would remain as cash on the company balance sheet and not be given to them personally …Russel Crowe’s situation is completely different ,… he personally owns a share of the club ,..

Given that they do not personally benefit from the sale ..I find it very hard to see them giving up the asset of the club unless made to by the NRL or possible the Govt … this is the point I clearly made hours ago,

I can’t believe I need to explain this to you In this seemingly obvious detail, …but you have come back 5 times now

Cmon that's just absurd. Why on earth would anyone think that the individuals involved would personally pocket the cash. That's just stupid. The organisation owns the license and the organisation would make tens of million in selling their asset.
It's not that complicated.

 

[balmain boy]

HBG is a not for profit members club, not a shareholder owned company. It has no shareholders to pay dividends to, so profits are reinvested into the club, sporting programs and community initiatives according to their constitution rather than distributed to private owners.

Even if they sold the club, the money doesn't go to any board members, however they do control where it is spent to an extent.

Of course.

It would give WA millions to buy more pokie licenses. Or upgrade their crappy carpark or something.

 

[Tom Shines]

Cmon that's just absurd. Why on earth would anyone think that the individuals involved would personally pocket the cash. That's just stupid. The organisation owns the license and the organisation would make tens of million in selling their asset.
It's not that complicated.

I’ve set out of your argument in the next post … I’ll let others be the judge …

 

[Tom Shines]

Of course.

It would give WA millions to buy more pokie licenses. Or upgrade their crappy carpark or something.

Let me be the first to know when they decide to sell,..Im tipping it will be on the Twelth of Never ,,

 

[balmain boy]

Is the lack of funding coaches, etc, in the pathways system a reason we don't get that value from our juniors, and possibly why they go on to perform better at other clubs?

Yes

 

[balmain boy]

I think that's Richo's way of keeping them happy.

They make $100m a year, only $11m profit. Out of that $1.5m I assume comes to WT, Magpies etc.

They spend $1.2m in donations.

You need that 10% profit because they're spending apparently $50m in salaries. If they have a bad year the next year or so, they can't be spending all their money on WT.

Nearly 30% of their profits they're spending on things they won't see a return on (I.e. Donations/ Football department).

We can beg them to double their investment into WT but even that won't be enough. And why would they invest more when it's a one- way model and they don't get anything back from WT?

My opnion is:
- spend as much as you can in Pathways, create excellent systems, create excellent coaches, excellent physios, S&Cs etc.
- Make them as professional as you can from every rep team onwards and promote these staff from within
- Spend as little as you can on the NRL dept itself other than obviously the salary cap.

Maybe SM is already doing that. Maybe my opinion is flawed too and we might end up losing money if we aren't spending on the NRL.

But we have to do something drastic.

**Disclaimer: not an accountant, just reading the Annual report and trying to understand**

Does the report actually state 100 mil in revenue and 50 mil on salary expenses???
That couldn't possibly be right Panthers wouldn't even spend that much on staff and they're 100 tonnes the size of WA.

 

[balmain boy]

I’ve set out of your argument in the next post … I’ll let others be the judge …

You've been arguing with yourself over your own confusion on a simple topic bro. Let it go

 

[Tom Shines]

You've been arguing with yourself over your own confusion on a simple topic bro. Let it go

According to you …😂

A lot seem to see it differently

 

[tig_prmz]

I don’t think owners are looking at making miney from the NRL grant though ..: the investment payoff will be realised through the appreciation of the asset in a sporting league that is rapidly increasing their revenues… in the meantime some rich dude gets to scratch an itch owning a footy team that is mostly paying for itself after the initial purchase

That's fair and let's say there is some rich dude out there who is happy to sprint $20m to buy the WT part from HBG.

What does HBG get out of selling it? If they have an opportunity to buy another Leagues Club let's say in Blacktown and need a $20m investment for that, then they can sell it. But, selling the Football department brings profits that don't need to be re-invested. In fact, they lose all the non- tangible exposure that they get.

And for this rich dude even. Let's say they want to spend $20m to buy the Club, then there is another $5-10m a year they have to dip into their pockets each other for very little output. The output as you said comes in the way of increasing valuation of a football team.

I am not saying that there is no one willing to take that gamble, but the pool of people that this appeals to is quite low.

I fully understand that as an owner, you will get to network with big companies for sponsorship deals and may help other arms of your business.

But again, these are all just pipe dreams IMO.

We have to sustain this Club without the hope of a sugar daddy or a big injuction of sustained cash.

My opinion is that we have to think 10 years down the track, take all the investment away from the NRL squad and invest heavily in the pathways. Get rid of a couple of rep teams if you need to, but whatever 5 grades you have left, you make them super professional and hopefully you reap rewards later.

 

[tig_prmz]

Does the report actually state 100 mil in revenue and 50 mil on salary expenses???
That couldn't possibly be right Panthers wouldn't even spend that much on staff and they're 100 tonnes the size of WA.

As I keep saying, I'm not an accountant, just have had the opportunity to sell and buy businesses.

$40m sorry, not $50m.

https://holmanbarnesgroup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Annual-Report-25_HGB-26-Web.pdf

 

[Tom Shines]

And for this rich dude even. Let's say they want to spend $20m to buy the Club, then there is another $5-10m a year they have to dip into their pockets each other for very little output. The output as you said comes in the way of increasing valuation of a football team.

I am not saying that there is no one willing to take that gamble, but the pool of people that this appeals to is quite low

You might be underestimating how much money some people have these days .. people have made gazillions in investments like crypto and AI companies ..

The chance to own an NRL club are few and far between

 

[tig_prmz]

I was listening to Gus earlier about why it took them so long to have an NRLW team.

He said they simply didn't have the funds for that.

They couldn't afford a full time coach and coaching staff.

I think Bulldogs got an NRLW team 4-5 years after WT.

 

[Tom Shines]

I was listening to Gus earlier about why it took them so long to have an NRLW team.

He said they simply didn't have the funds for that.

They couldn't afford a full time coach and coaching staff.

I think Bulldogs got an NRLW team 4-5 years after WT.

Yes ..i always believe everything Gus says …he always speaks the truth 100% with no hidden agendas…

It’s not like their leagues club haven’t put millions a year into their football club for the last 20 years at least

 

[tig_prmz]

You might be underestimating how much money some people have these days .. people have made gazillions in investments like crypto and AI companies ..

The chance to own an NRL club are few and far between

I understand people have money and want to spend it and NRL club might be a great place to spend it.

But, that is not within our control. We need a Plan B so to speak in case the influx of money stays what it is.

We are doing better, we are $2-3m in the profits after HBG, NRL grant, sponsorships etc.

My opinion is that we reduce the amount of teams we have through all competitions, increase the funding to NSW Cup, JF and HM. Maybe only have two women's teams instead of 4.

It might reduce our catchment area, it might reduce how many Juniors come through our system but at least we are supporting the ones that come through better.

And yes, in the background, we can keep trying to get HBG to sell, or keep asking for more money.

But honestly if this happened in 25 years, I doubt it's happening any time soon. We can't be at the mercy of a private owner who might spend $10m one year and $1m the next.

We need to be self sustainable and this is how I feel we can do it.

 

[weststigers]

Let me be the first to know when they decide to sell,..Im tipping it will be on the Twelth of Never ,,

You could amass a lot of pressure and have the NRL consider not renewing the license to HBG. HBG may not necessarily have to agree to anything in the end.

The problem is our fans are apathetic in general...your statement is a testament to that, GNR's general demeanour is a testament to that. There are many more so not picking on individuals. More the mentality that exists...happy to piss and moan, but not willing to do anything about it. You went to the march at Lidcombe...why go if you think things will change on the "twelfth of never" yet piddle your pants about signings...the issue is at the top. Always has been and always will be.

While Souths fans marched the streets, our fans meekly accepted what the ARL said. Both Wests and Balmain fans just accepted it. Never put up a fight at all.

What Souths fans did was difficult and it came with the risk of losing their team altogether. They could have said...will never happen. They could have said let's take the money and continue as a merged club...like many fans of other clubs did...but the immense pressure thousands of fans can create is bad optics for the NRL if it carries on for long enough.

Every merged club in the NRL has failed. Ours is hanging on by a thread. Our biggest problem is we can't even vote on our board members because of this debenture system. It's a scam...in no other industry would this be accepted and we shouldn't accept it either.

 

[Tom Shines]

I understand people have money and want to spend it and NRL club might be a great place to spend it.

But, that is not within our control. We need a Plan B so to speak in case the influx of money stays what it is.

We are doing better, we are $2-3m in the profits after HBG, NRL grant, sponsorships etc.

My opinion is that we reduce the amount of teams we have through all competitions, increase the funding to NSW Cup, JF and HM. Maybe only have two women's teams instead of 4.

It might reduce our catchment area, it might reduce how many Juniors come through our system but at least we are supporting the ones that come through better.

And yes, in the background, we can keep trying to get HBG to sell, or keep asking for more money.

But honestly if this happened in 25 years, I doubt it's happening any time soon. We can't be at the mercy of a private owner who might spend $10m one year and $1m the next.

We need to be self sustainable and this is how I feel we can do it.

Yes..i agree it wont happen ..mainly because the owners have no incentives to sell …

Onwards and upwards